In the Kingdom of Fools
1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find
in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans. When
the guru and his disciple reach the kingdom of fools, they find the following
two strange things-
a) All the people sleep during the day and work during the night time. They
have trained the cattle and all the other animals also to do the same as they
fear punishment at the hands of the king.
b) Everything in the kingdom of fools- a bag of rice or a bunch of
bananas costs one duddu. The guru is astonished and his disciple is excited to
realize that food is so cheap in the kingdom.
2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools?
Is it a good idea?
Ans. The
disciple loves food. He gets excited to see such cheap food available in the
kingdom of fools. As he wants to relish more and more food, he stays back in
the kingdom of fools. His decision was not a good one as he got into trouble.
Although he was innocent, the king’s men took him for execution as they needed
a fat person who could be killed easily by the stake.
3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give
the reasons for their trial.
Ans. The names of the people who were
tried in the king’s court are as follows-
a) The rich merchant who was the owner of the house was tried because the wall
that collapsed onto the thief belonged to him. Later, on he was again tried and
held guilty on behalf of his dead father who had ordered the goldsmith to
deliver the ornaments in a haste due to which the goldsmith could not deliver
the dancing girl’s ornaments in time.
b) The bricklayer who had built the weak wall was also tried for constructing
the wall that collapsed and killed the thief.
c) The dancing girl was tried for distracting the bricklayer. As she walked in
the lane again and again, the jingling sound of her anklets distracted the
bricklayer because of which he constructed a weak wall.
d) The goldsmith was tried because it was due to him that the dancing girl had
to walk up and down the lane again and again.
e) The rich merchant’s dead father was tried because he had ordered the
goldsmith to deliver his ornaments first as there was a wedding with his
family. Due to his order the goldsmith was unable to make the dancing girl’s
ornaments in time.
4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he
escape punishment?
Ans. According to the king, the
real culprit was the merchant’s dead father. As he was dead, he could not
be punished and in place of him, his son who had inherited all his property
would be punished.
The merchant escapes the punishment as the minister feels that he is too thin
to be killed by the stake.
5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple
remember them?
Ans. The Guru had told his disciple
that the place was a kingdom of fools and they was unsafe for them. He had
asked his disciple to leave the place at once. The disciple is reminded of his
Guru’s words of wisdom when he lands into trouble. When the king’s men take him
for execution, he prays to his Guru and asks him to save his life.
6. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?
Ans. The guru is a wise and intelligent
man. He traps the foolish king in his talks. He says that as he is the Guru, he
is senior to his disciple and so, he should be killed first. The king gets
confused to see the Guru’s eagerness to die. He asks him the reason for
it. On being promise that he would be killed first, the Guru says that as the
stake is a new one, it has not killed any criminal. He adds that the person who
would be killed by the state first would be reborn as the king of the kingdom.
The second person who would be killed by the stake would be reborn as the
Minister of the kingdom. The king considers the Guru to be genuine and
so, tells his minister that they should not lose their kingdom in the next
birth. In this way, the king decides to save his kingdom and get himself and
his minister killed by the stake in place of the guru and his disciple. Hence,
the Guru saves his disciple’s life
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